Microsoft has officially announced a price drop for its flagship subscription service, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, lowering the monthly cost from $29.99 to $22.99. The change takes effect immediately, with regional pricing expected to vary.
Alongside this, PC Game Pass is also getting a reduction, dropping from $16.49 to $13.99 per month. Fans had been complaining about how expensive Game Pass had become, and even Xbox’s CEO, Asha Sharma, told her employees, “Game Pass has become too expensive for players.”
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There Is A Caveat, But Not A Big One
The first price increase occurred in 2024 when Call of Duty joined Game Pass, followed by further price increases targeting the Ultimate tier, raising it from $19.99 to $29.99, which angered fans.
Call of Duty was at the center of the price increases initially, and it’s still there now that the Game Pass is getting cheaper. Starting this year, future COD titles will no longer launch day one on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Instead, upcoming titles will be added to the service during the following holiday season, roughly a year after release.
Before you panic, existing Call of Duty titles already available through Game Pass will remain in the library. No changes are being made to the Game Pass’s benefits either. Apart from that, the Game Pass remains the same.
The removal of future Call of Duty day one releases is a fair price to pay for a cheaper Game Pass. The games will come to the Pass, just not on a day, and honestly speaking, I’ll take that over paying $29.99 any day.
What It Means For Game Pass Subscribers
For subscribers, the update yields mixed results. The reduced price makes Game Pass Ultimate more affordable, but the delayed release of Call of Duty might be a deal breaker for COD fans, who wait every year for the game. Because without a day-one release, fans would have to pay $70 or wait a year to play it. So, bit of a bummer for COD fans, but overall it’s a positive change.
Published: Apr 21, 2026 03:30 pm